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Cord-Cutting Speeds Up as TV Providers Post Q1 Numbers

Cord-Cutting Speeds Up as TV Providers Post Q1 Numbers

Video subscribers are disappearing even faster than expected for cable and satellite companies.

TV providers continue to hemorrhage video subscribers as Q1 saw a substantial uptick in cord-cutting. Combined, the cable and satellite TV providers lost over 150,000 video subscribers. Dish Network was by far the biggest loser, shedding around 200,000 subscribers, though this is largely due to carriage disputes with major networks that led to popular channels like Fox News being blacked out by the satellite company. Consequently, satellite rival DirecTV was the only major MSO to post a gain in subscribers, up nearly 60,000, most of whom were likely dumping Dish. Among cable companies, Cablevision lost the most subscribers, with around 28,000 pulling the plug on pay-TV. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Charter faired a bit better, but each lost video subscribers as well. Interestingly enough, Cablevision has rolled out some new products catering specifically to cord-cutter. The New York area cable provider is the first to offer NBO Now and Hulu Plus subscriptions to its subscribers, and has even debuted low-cost service bundles that include a free HDTV antenna rather than a pay-TV package.